Nightmare Guild
by Fujisaki Chihiro
Summary: The prestigious Dream Guild becomes the setting of a nightmare scenario: 14 Pokemon from 4 rescue teams were locked in and told to kill one another until a sole "Graduate" remains; a killing spree that bypasses friendship and even love! Let the game begin! (Dangan Ronpa/Hunger Games/Battle Royale-style PMD AU)
1. Prologue

**Author's Note:  
****I got the idea for this from combining Dangan Ronpa, Battle Royale, Hunger Games, and Pokemon. Therefore you will see a lot of innocent young Pokemon dying for absolutely no reason at all but simple survival. I'm also warning you that you may find some scenes gory. ****The pairings throughout the story will be SnivyxOshawott, LomBreloom, and ClefairyxRoselia, none of which is yaoi or yuri.**

**Insert disclaimers here.**

**All right, with all that out of the way, let's begin the story, shall we.**

* * *

**Nightmare Guild**

**Prologue**

* * *

**Something happened a few days ago**

_...Everything is shaking. I don't know what's happening. No one is here with me. No one cares about me. No one cares that I will perish under these falling boulders. No one cares whether I live or die. No one tries to come for me. I doubt they even remember I exist. They are all safe outside while I look up at the cave ceiling, wondering which boulder that will crush me..._

_..._

_..._

* * *

**Present day**

"Pelipper. Could you deliver these letters, please?"

The head postal officer, also another Pelipper, was sitting at his desk in their post office, high on a cliff near the Pokémon Square. Although it was a fairly chilly autumn day, he was sweating just by sitting all day behind his desk. The head postal officer was like that. He sweats a _lot_.

Pelipper the wandering postal carrier didn't, although his job consisted of roaming the skies frequently to deliver letters to the Pokémon of the Square. However, most letters were addressed to the various rescue teams in the Pokémon Square and its surrounding areas.

"Roger that."

Pelipper went to get the four letters his sweaty friend was handing out with his wing. The four letters were identical although they were addressed to different Pokémon. Pelipper noted that they looked very sophisticated. They were printed on quality paper and even had a crest with a Cresselia on it. The sender was written as a "Guildmaster C of Dream Guild".

However, it was when glimpsing their receivers' addresses that Pelipper burst out. "Two of these letters are to go to Treasure Town, and another one's even supposed to go all the way to PokéPark. Do you really want me to deliver them today? If so, I might not get back here until evening."

The head postal officer smiled apologetically at him. "I know, and I'm sorry," he said. "I know that wandering postal carriers aren't supposed to have overtime work hours, but those letters seem to be important. They were supposed to go on express air mail, but all our Flygon aren't here. They're already on express jobs of their own, so I need you to do this one. Sorry," he said again.

Pelipper tried not to look put out - he was looking forward to eating a warm dinner with his wife back home on this cold autumn evening. But since he was a wandering postal carrier, and a good one at that, he managed to stay poker-faced. "All right," he said. "I'll just go now, then."

"Thanks, Pelipper!" his friend called as the wandering postal carrier took to the skies through the hole on their roof.

...

Pelipper was so used to delivering letters to different destinations that he didn't miss a beat. He would deliver the letter which has the closest destination, and then work his way to the destination farthest away. His first destination was this very Pokémon Square, and the letter was to go to a rescue team called Team DynamicPunch. In less than a few minutes, he had spied the rather small Riolu-shaped team base. He hovered lower and popped the correct letter into their mailbox.

His next destination was Treasure Town, which wasn't that far away from the Pokémon Square. He had two letters to deliver there: one to a Team Overgrow and the other to a Team Red Bow. He finally saw the two bases he was looking for: one was a Breloom-shaped one and the other was a rather strange Roselia-shaped one but with Froslass ice crystals on its head and the wings of a Staraptor. There were two more THUNKs as he popped each letter into their mailboxes.

Finally, his farthest destination was PokéPark. Luckily for Pelipper, he wasn't carrying a heavy load anymore - he only had one letter to deliver left.

Since PokéPark wasn't like the rest of the Pokémon World - it was divided into areas with their own Area Keepers - PokéPark didn't have any rescue team bases. However, the envelope stated that the invitation meant for Team PokéPark could be delivered to the Beach Cove area of PokéPark. Even more specific, it was supposed to go to the assistant of Area Keeper Samurott, an otter Pokémon named Oshawott.

After leaving the letter at Samurott's lighthouse, Pelipper took to the skies once again, this time in the direction of home.

And hot dinner.

* * *

**Team Overgrow**

"Look what I found in our mailbox."

It was Treecko Kimori, the brains and strategy-maker of Team Overgrow. He was striding purposely into their Breloom-shaped base, holding a letter in his hand. It was almost evening, and the team had just finished a challenging rescue job. Recently they were trying to collect more Explorer Points, so they chose more difficult rescue jobs. A few days ago, they'd done this really challenging one in Thunderwave Cave. Fortunately, they managed to complete their job and even made friends with a Normal-rank rescue team called Team DynamicPunch who was also there.

The other three members of the team was lounging lazily inside the base, but Treecko wasn't. He was too serious to be sitting around doing nothing. That was how no-nonsense Treecko was.

Seeing the letter in Treecko's hand, team leader Breloom Kinogassa said while clacking his sore knuckles, "Nope, no more rescue jobs for today, Treecko, thank you very much."

"But this isn't a rescue job," Treecko protested. "This is a letter from Guildmaster C of... Dream Guild."

Breloom looked a fraction more interested than he was earlier. "Really? Sounds important. What does it say?"

Treecko read the letter aloud:

»̶✽«̶ »̶✽«̶ »̶✽«̶ »̶✽«̶  
_Team Overgrow (Breloom Kinogassa, Treecko Kimori, Lombre Raindish, and Cleffy Clefairy)_

_Treasure Town_

_We are proud to inform you that your team has been selected to participate in the 1-week camp for certain rescue teams at Dream Guild, Little Isshu, from 17 May to 23 May. You do not need to bring anything with you, just this invitation._

_Activities will include training by the guildmaster of Dream Guild and the usual activities you will find in any other guild... But better. That's because you'll be at the Dream Guild._

_Thank you for your attention and we hopefully await your participation._

_Sincerely,_

_Guildmaster C_  
»̶✽«̶ »̶✽«̶ »̶✽«̶ »̶✽«̶

"Umm..." Cleffy Clefairy, a rather insecure and unconfident Pokémon with a cute yellow hairbow, wavered after reading the letter. "What's Dream Guild?"

"¡Ay caramba!" It was Lombre Raindish, the other girl in the team who was as different from Cleffy as black and white. She often mixes up English with her mother tongue, Spanish. She always wears a black skull-patterned bandanna and black boots and loves metal music. Other than that, she never wants to leave home without her Gibson Flying V guitar. "Whaddya mean, you don't know Dream Guild? It's quite popular."

"Dream Guild is a very prestigious guild in Little Isshu," Treecko explained. "Although not much is known about it, Dream Guild has a very good reputation. They say the guild building is like a castle itself."

"Really?" Breloom's eyes widened. "So what do you guys think? Should we participate in this camp thingy?"

"We should," Treecko said seriously. "It might score us some much-needed Explorer Points. Besides, the guild _is_ very prestigious..." Lombre agreed by nodding gamely, while Cleffy heaved a great sigh before replying, "OK, maybe we should..."

"All right," Breloom said. "That means we're in."


	2. PRE-GAME Chapter 1: Dream Guild

**~ Nightmare Guild ~**

**PART ONE: PRE-GAME**

**Chapter One: Dream Guild**

"...Wow."

Team Overgrow was standing before a castle that was better known as Dream Guild. Although they were still standing outside the hedge that kept the whole world outside, they could see that saying that the guild was a castle in itself wasn't an understatement. Even the hedge looked beautiful.

However, the gate was closed.

Breloom was about to complain that they couldn't get in when Treecko got an idea. He pulled out the invitation and slid it into a slot in the red brick formation. The gate opened.

"Nice thinking," Lombre said, sneering at Breloom. Breloom glared back at her before they went in through the archway.

But not before he had realized that she was holding her white Flying V guitar. "Are you nuts?" he exclaimed. "You brought your guitar here?!"

She tossed her head. "Well, yeah," she said. "What? It's my guitar and it's entirely up to me whether I decide to bring it or not."

Treecko rolled his eyes and led them into the front yard.

The building in the distance was a soft creamy-yellow color. There was a main building, which they were now walking to, and two long buildings that stretched out of either side of it. It had a green roof and red and green banners at the front.

That was when Cleffy glimpsed something coming at them from the sky. She looked up...

And saw a Staraptor flying over their heads. He landed on the lawn not far away. Then two Pokémon hopped off his back: a Froslass and a Roselia. The Roselia was grumbling about how Staraptor shouldn't have done acrobats in the sky since it gave him the creeps when he noticed Breloom's team.

"Team Overgrow!" he exclaimed happily, showing a sudden change of emotion. Then he started to run over with his teammates bringing up the rear.

"Well, what do you know. Team Red Bow was also invited," Breloom said, smirking as Cleffy's whole face went fire engine red. For as long as anyone remembered, Cleffy has had a huge and obvious crush on the Roselia.

The Roselia screeched to a halt in front of Breloom's team. "Hey!" he said. "I didn't know you were also invited."

"Hi Roselio!" Breloom exclaimed. "We didn't know you were invited, either."

By this time, Froslass and Staraptor had reached them too. "Hello," Froslass said shortly, being the very quiet girl she is. As for Staraptor, he raised an eyebrow (yes. He doesn't have any, good point, but still) and said, "Breloom, Lombre, Treecko, and Cleffy are here too? Wow. This is gonna be a huge house party." "House party?" Froslass rolled her eyes. "We're here to train-"

She was interrupted by the arrival of yet another team.

"BRELOOM!" A Magnemite shouted as he raced in through the archway. "Breloombreloombreloombreloom! You're here! Bzzzzt! Yay! We're gonna train together in the next seven days! Yay! Bzzzt!"

"Magnemite. Slow down!"

A Riolu, a Machop and a Tyrogue were running breathlessly to keep up with him. Riolu was shouting irritatedly. Machop was shouting happily. Tyrogue was silent.

"Team DynamicPunch is also here?" Treecko wondered. "Wow. Before we know it, this guild will be filled with all our friends."

The Magnemite had taken a liking to Breloom since Thunderwave Cave and now looked up to Breloom like a little brother. By this time he had reached Breloom, and was beaming happily imagining the seven days to come.

"Hello," Riolu said breathlessly when he finally caught up, followed by Machop and Tyrogue. Riolu, the leader of Team DynamicPunch, is a Pokémon who was sometimes a bit annoying with his many theories. Machop, although he's the same age as the others, is very childish. Tyrogue is the most sensible one in the team.

Since Team DynamicPunch and Team Red Bow had never met before, Treecko introduced the two teams. "Hello," said Roselio in his usual friendly, happy-go-lucky manner. Froslass merely nodded. Staraptor said, "Nice to meet you guys!"

...That was when a shadow fell over them. Treecko looked up and saw a Drifblim carrying three Pokémon.

"Told you this guild will be full of our friends," he said to Lombre. "Here comes Team PokéPark now."

The Drifblim landed on the ground and his three passengers hopped down. Roselio noticed them and ran right over, shouting, "Hey! Oshawott, Snivy, Tepig! You three were _also_ invited?"

Yep. Staraptor's house party is about to come true, for sure.

⌣»̶✽«

* * *

With Team Overgrow, Team Red Bow, Team DynamicPunch, and Team PokéPark at the Dream Guild, the party was complete. Although Team PokéPark also hadn't met Team DynamicPunch before, it didn't take long for them to hook up with one another. After all the introductions had been made, they went into the Dream Guild itself through the giant double doors.

Which was strangely empty.

The entry hall was actually grand with shiny marble floors and towering pillars. There was a Sphinx statue in the center and bulletin boards and a set of metal doors on the far wall. However, no one was there.

"Umm, isn't Guildmaster C or someone else supposed to be _welcoming_ us?" Riolu said haughtily. "Or at least meeting us," Tepig offered. Unlike the team leader Oshawott who was action- (and Snivy-) loving, Tepig was timid and docile. However, he values honesty above anything else.

Staraptor glanced at Froslass. "Are you sure you got the date right?"

Froslass looked offended. Since she was a widely-proclaimed genius and a lover of science and rationality as well as a mechanic-savvy, she was very detail-oriented and was hardly ever wrong. "Of course I didn't. Even if I got the date wrong, which I'm not saying I did, then I suppose the other teams must have gotten it wrong too?"

"Maybe the guildmaster just isn't ready yet?" Cleffy suggested uncertainly. "Maybe he's gonna come out soon?"

"Maybe," Treecko said coolly. "That means we wait." And the cool, calm, and collected Wood Gecko leaned against the wall with his arms folded in front of him. Waiting.

* * *

**45 minutes later**

"OK, I'm officially done waiting," Riolu complained loudly. "What now? I have a feeling this Guildmaster C isn't going to come out in the near future."

"Maybe..." Oshawott gasped. "This could be a prank!" As you can see, Samurott's right-hand Pokémon gets suspicious very quickly. His brain is always thinking up conspiracy theories, unlike his teammate and crush Snivy, the princess of PokéPark's Arbor Area. Although she was cold-hearted and had a bit of a spoiled demeanor, she was laid-back and quick-witted.

"Of course not," she scoffed. "Why would he pull a prank on us? The letter he sent us was too sophisticated-looking to be a prank."

"Well, instead of arguing here, why don't we use the time to look around?" Tyrogue said. His message was clear: he thought the argument was silly. Yes, Tyrogue had common sense, and he had lots of it. "Great idea!" Machop chimed in. Although he was Tyrogue's best friend, Machop was different from him in many obvious ways. "I can't WAIT to explore this guild!"

»̶✽«̶

Following Tyrogue's advice to look around instead of sitting around doing nothing, they went into the corridor on the left of the entry hall and into the left wing. That was where they discovered the rooms they were to stay in for the next seven days.

Since there were 2 corridors branching out of the entry hall and 14 Pokémon, there would be 7 rooms in each corridor. They found that each room had been assigned to one Pokémon. In the left wing which they'd gone into, they saw the rooms of Lombre, Riolu, Magnemite, Treecko, Froslass, and Oshawott.

At the end of this wing, there were a library and a lab, to Froslass' silent delight. (Meanwhile, Riolu rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath, "Maybe this is a guild for nerds."). And in the very corner near the lab and library, they found Roselio's room.

"Why is my room here? It's way far from the others'." Roselio groaned. Staraptor sneered. "Maybe Guildmaster C just wants you to suffer," he teased.

On going into the right wing this time, they found the rooms of Breloom, Cleffy, Tepig, Snivy, Machop, and Staraptor. And at the end of it, there was a huge training gym and a small storage room... And Tyrogue's bedroom.

"Don't worry, at least you won't be suffering alone," Staraptor told Roselio. "Tyrogue's room is far from the others' too." Fortunately, Tyrogue was sensible, so he kept silent.

The door at the far end of the entry hall turned out to lead into the mess hall. There was a long aluminium table you'd find in a cafetaria. On the left there was another door that led into the kitchen, and inside there was another storage room.

And yet they were still waiting for Guildmaster C.

"If he doesn't appear in five minutes, we're outta here," Riolu said to Team DynamicPunch as the others looked at one another, thinking whether or not they should go home too.

That was when they heard the announcement.

A deep voice from the speakers on the corners blared out, "Greetings rescue team Pokémon, and welcome to Dream Guild. This is Guildmaster C. I offer you the sincerest apologies for getting in touch with you late, but I hope you have finished looking around and that you all are pleased with the facilities here at Dream Guild."

"You bet!" Froslass said quietly, still pleased with the library and the lab. The others nodded. "OK, this place is pretty good," even Riolu had to admit.

But then things were doomed to go downhill.

"Ah. It's my pleasure to see that you are all satisfied with the place," said Guildmaster C. "That's because it is a vital part in the program you will be participating in. First of all, I would like to offer another apology. I know that the letter said seven days, but I'm afraid that is an understatement."

"Huh?" Oshawott's eyes darkened.

"The truth is, this is the place where you'll be spending the rest of your lives."

"Haha. Very funny," Riolu rolled his eyes.

"I know this must sound like a joke, but I am assuring you this isn't. The door has been programmed to permanently lock once all of you have entered."

"Wh... What's the big idea? You must be fibbing," Staraptor snapped, trying to convince himself that Guildmaster C was joking. However, he had a strange sense of foreboding that he wasn't.

"I'm telling the truth. Go ahead and try the door if you don't believe me."

Breloom immediately ran out of the room and jiggled the handle of the double doors that led outside. When he returned, the others could see plainly that his face was pale. "He's not kidding," he said grimly. "The door really is locked but I don't see any keyholes. And that door is indestructible."

Staraptor turned with wide eyes to look at the speaker. "What's the big idea?!" he repeated.

"Like I said earlier, all of you are going to participate in a program," Guildmaster C continued, "that involves living here for the rest of your lives. You have to live here in peace and harmony without contact with the outside world."

"That's stupid!" Riolu yelled. "That's the most crappy joke I've ever heard!"

"...Going out of this guild is theoretically impossible," Guildmaster C went on without paying heed to Riolu's protests. "Unless..."

"Unless what?" Tepig asked.

"Unless you graduate from Dream Guild."

"OK," Froslass said quickly. She was that type of person who didn't have anything to worry about when it comes to any kind of graduation. "And how do we graduate?"

"It's simple. You just have to be the last one standing."

Now Froslass looked much less sure. "In what?" Tepig asked cautiously.

"In an all-out killing spree," was the emotionless reply.

...

...

...

I don't know what your reaction would be if you were there too, but for one thing, Riolu burst out laughing. "That's nuts," he cackled. "You crack me up, Guildmaster. That's the funniest joke I've ever heard!"

However, the others, who seemed to believe what Guildmaster C was saying, looked grim. Even Magnemite, who was morphologically emotionless. Now he looked the most grim-faced of all.

Guildmaster C easily ignored Riolu again. "You simply have to be the last one alive. So as you can see, only one of you will graduate from the guild, only one of you will see the outside world again."

"That's PREPOSTEROUS!" Oshawott burst out. "You can't do that!"

"Yes, I actually can, because I'm the guildmaster," Guildmaster C said coolly, "and there's nothing you can do about it but cope with it. You have two choices: either you live harmoniously, or you try to be the Graduate. If it's the latter, go find yourselves some weapons and let's see some blood, shall we?"

And the speaker went silent.


	3. PRE-GAME Chapter 2: Plans of Escape

**~ Nightmare Guild~**

**Chapter Two: Plans of Escape**

The speaker went silent. Guildmaster C had simply halted the conversation, ending it with the surprising revelation that they actually had to kill to get out of the guild. _If_ they wanted to get out of the guild - which they did.

Since some of them were on the verge of freaking out (Machop) or bursting into tears (Cleffy), collected Treecko suggested that they go to their own rooms to get their bearings and wits about them. Treecko himself didn't need to, actually, because he always has his wits about him. He was referring to the other, more soft-hearted Pokémon. However, they would meet in an hour's time in the mess hall to talk about this newest "development".

Tepig Pokabu wasn't one of them who freaked out. However, as he paced to and fro in his actually rather nice room, he was deeply worried. Why did this happen to him? Why did Guildmaster C make up this program? What had he gotten himself into?!

It was when he was pacing about did he see the note taped to the back of his door. It read:

»̶✽«̶ »̶✽«̶ »̶✽«̶ »̶✽«̶ »̶✽«̶  
_Dream Guild Program Rules_

_Welcome, _Mr. Pokabu

_I write this to inform the participants that there are a few rules of the game that everyone has to pay attention to. These rules include timings and other important obligations that will be _fatal_ if you do not keep in mind._

_1. __**Daytime**__ is the time between 6 AM to 10 PM everyday. During this time, everyone is allowed to go anywhere and do anything they want. (Of course, you cannot go outside the guild)._

_2. __**Nighttime**__ is the time between 10 PM to 6 AM everyday. During this time, it is necessary that everyone stays in his or her own room and any activity outside the bedroom is banned until Daytime. Furthermore, you cannot just go into any bedroom, you must stay in your own rooms. Whoever disobeys these rules will be _eliminated_ from the program (and not "eliminated" in a good meaning, a.k.a. getting out of the guild)._

_3. Every morning, a speaker announcement will be made at 8 AM. This is also to serve as your alarm clock._

_4. Everyone has to be outside before 9 AM. Whoever hasn't gone out of his or her room before that time will be _eliminated_, again not in a good meaning. (Yes. This means you can't just stay inside and sleep all day, any lazybones who was planning to do this)._

_I may not be with you right now, but I am always able to see what you are doing, thanks to hidden cameras I had installed everywhere (except for bathrooms, now that is just not ethical). Remember, _**I am always watching**_. Even right now._

_Happy killing!_

_Guildmaster C  
__»̶✽«̶ _»̶✽«̶ »̶✽«̶ »̶✽«̶ »̶✽«̶

"Happy killing?!" Tepig snarled, his patience finally snapping. "Happy killing? HAPPY killing?!" He ripped the note off his door. "First he trapped us in this silly guild forever. Then he told us to kill one another. _Now_ he gives us rules to obey. Dream Guild?! This isn't a dream guild. This is a guild straight from my worst _nightmare_!"

* * *

...

"All right."

Treecko Kimori looked around at the grim faces of the others seated around the long table in the mess hall. He was the self-proclaimed leader of this discussion, because he was one of the few who could keep his cool, the other one being Froslass.

"First of all. Our first priority is to get out of this place. Does everyone agree with that?"

"Of course!" Riolu snapped. "I'd do anything to get out of this lunatic asylum."

Treecko shot him a brief "shut up" look and succeeded in calming him down. "OK, that one is settled. The main problem is, how are we going to get out of here? The only door leading outside is locked and is very sturdy up to the point of being indestructible. There are no windows to climb out of. This guild really seems escape-proof. Ideas?"

At first, there was silence. And then...

"If you can't go under, over, or through it..." Lombre began nonchalantly, "I say we bulldoze it down." She turned to Treecko. "We punch a hole in the wall. We escape. We're free. _Es no problema_. Of course we won't do it with mere fists," she went on, shooting a look at Breloom who was beginning to look too enthusiastic. "That's not gonna be strong enough. We need something else."

"Like what?" Riolu looked skeptical.

That was when mechanical-savvy Froslass piped up.

"Explosives."

Staraptor's eyes went wide and he stared at Froslass. "Girl, I like your style."

"Bzzzzt. Question? Where are we going to get explosives?" Magnemite asked. "There's very little chance we'll find one lying about in the storage room," Tyrogue agreed.

"We won't," Snivy said coldly, suddenly getting Froslass' idea. "We'll make our own."

"You can make explosives?" Machop gasped excitedly, staring at the grass snake with wide eyes.

Snivy tossed her slender head in Froslass' direction. "I can't, but she can," she said. Magnemite and Machop instantly turned to Froslass. Since they'd only met her a while ago, they had just known this trivial fact about her. "Bzzzt! How cool! What else can you make?" Magnemite looked really interested.

"Oh, chemical stuff and whatnot, usually," Froslass replied with a slight blush on her pale cheeks. "But I can also make robots."

"Bzzzt! Robots?" Magnemite exclaimed. "That's-!"

"BACK TO THE TOPIC," Riolu drawled, interrupting Magnemite mid-sentence. "You were saying about busting out of here, Treecko?"

"OK," Treecko went back to business. "We'll try to knock down a wall with explosives, which Froslass can make in the lab. Is that agreed?"

Everyone nodded.

Treecko nodded himself. "All right then. It's all settled. And in the meantime, we'll follow the rules about Daytime and Nighttime. I also think we should spare some time for a daily discussion..."

"How about we meet here every morning after the morning announcement? It'll be like the morning briefings at Wigglytuff's Guild," Breloom suggested.

"OK," Treecko agreed. "Is that all right with everyone?"

Everyone said yes.

"Then that's it for today's discussion," Treecko said, bringing the briefing to a close. "Although I hope we don't have to meet here tomorrow morning - because I want us to be outside by then."

"Yeah!" Riolu sighed as he got up. "Busting out of this loony bin. Now that's what I call a dream."

And that was how the Pokémon found themselves doing different tasks on the first day at the Dream Guild. Froslass found herself holed up in the lab with Machop and Magnemite. As she worked, Machop and Magnemite had seemingly found pleasure in browsing and skimming the labels of the many chemical solutions in the cupboards.

"OK. Explosives, eh?" Froslass said in an insanely calm voice, wiggling her fingers. "Let me see what I can do."

...And Guildmaster C, whoever he was, was seriously going to regret he ever put Froslass and a lab in the same building.


	4. PRE-GAME Chapter 3: Back to the Board

**~ Nightmare Guild ~**

**Chapter Three: Back to the Drawing Board**

"Here is the bomb you wanted."

Froslass Yukimenoko put the otherwise ordinary capsule of metal in the middle of the mess hall's long aluminium table the next morning. The announcement had just been made, and in a jiffy everyone had gathered in the mess hall. Maybe they were hopeful that their explosive escape plan would be their ticket out of there.

"It doesn't look like much," Riolu commented. "I expected it to look more... Elaborate."

"It may look simple, but this is a force to be reckoned with," Froslass argued. "It was made with all the right equipment-"

"And by the right person, too!" Machop exclaimed. "Magnemite and I watched her work all day and night yesterday. It was so interesting. Hey, maybe Magnemite and I can even make our own bombs!"

"OK, OK," Riolu gave up. "Fine. Who knows, this might just work."

"I'm definitely keeping my fingers crossed!" Oshawott said determinedly.

Of course, then there came the issue of where to detonate Froslass' bomb.

"In my opinion, we should detonate it right by the double doors in the entry hall," Snivy advised. "The walls might be too sturdy to be blown up, but if we set it off near the door, we might be able to blow it off its frame."

"All right!" Staraptor cried out. "Time to send this place rocking on its base."

A scared Cleffy groaned and buried her face in her hands. She hated anything that had to do with explosions.

...

And so, after lunch, they all went into the entry hall to set up the bomb. It was a timed bomb, so they only had to set up the time and put it next to the door. Although it was technically a bomb, Froslass promised that it would only blow up a section of the guild. No one would have let her set it up if it had been capable of destroying the whole building.

Staraptor was the one who set up the bomb, with careful instructions from Froslass. Once the timer had been activated, he quickly flew away and ducked into the mess hall with the others.

Ten.

Nine.

Eight.

Seven...

Cleffy Clefairy was sitting on the floor with her hands over her ears. She was afraid of explosions and loud noise. She didn't even like fireworks, so you could imagine how much she disliked time bombs.

However, she became much less afraid when Roselio came over. And seeing that she was scared out of her wits, he squeezed her hand and didn't let go.

Six.

Five.

Breloom and Lombre stood next to the door of the mess hall, gazing through its little rectangular glass windows. In contrast to Cleffy, they were curious and wished they could actually see the explosion.

Four.

Three...

Machop and Magnemite weren't far away from the mess hall door either. They wanted to see Froslass' bomb in action.

Two...

Froslass stood calmly as Oshawott and Snivy kept their fingers crossed. A smile grew on her pale, cold face.

Yup. They were going to get out.

One.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

...

...

Cleffy jumped. She was so scared out of her skin that Roselio had to calm her down.

Breloom and Lombre both wanted to look through the glass first.

Machop and Magnemite cheered as if seeing the bomb explode was the best thing they had ever done.

Froslass was still smiling. _That was the sound of our one-way ticket out of here._

...

* * *

...

Treecko Kimori deftly sidestepped the debris and bricks that littered the floor near the Sphinx statue. He was the one who was going to check whether the bomb had done it or not.

Treecko saw the wall on that side of the entry hall. Although it was still whole as in it had no hole for them to escape through, a layer of it had obviously been blown off because there were a lot of bricks on the floor.

And then the dust cleared...

And Treecko saw the door.

Which was still on its hinges.

Treecko's mouth fell open as a voice blared from the speakers, "Hey, what are you Pokémon doing in there? You disturbed my sleep..."

There was a pause. "Oh, trying to blow up the door with explosives, weren't you? I knew I should have told you before - the doors here are all explosion-proof. There's no way to blow it off its hinges. And, to save you from wasting more time and energy, don't even bother getting started on the walls. Although they do break into debris like those on the floor, they are too thick to blast a hole through. Well, that was what I was just going to say."

It was followed by a yawn. "Well, I'll leave you to do anything you want, preferably something that involves using those bombs on your own friends. But whatever you do, try not to make any noise, OK? I'm going back to sleep. Carry on."

Then there was silence.

Treecko would normally stay calm at happenings like this, but this time he allowed himself a burst of rage and annoyance, and he kicked at the debris littered on the floor.

* * *

"So? How did it go?"

Everyone said the same thing once Treecko went in through the door of the mess hall.

"Did it work?" Tepig asked nervously.

Treecko paused. The room was so silent anyone could hear a pin drop. And then Treecko spoke.

"No."

The room erupted with gasps.

"WHADDYA MEAN IT DIDN'T WORK?!" Staraptor burst out. "Froslass' stuff ALWAYS works. This isn't supposed to happen! No WAY!"

"What... What is the problem, Treecko?" Froslass asked, struggling to stay calm when she was actually as surprised as Staraptor. Her bomb was supposed to be able to knock down walls. Staraptor was right. This wasn't supposed to happen.

"Guildmaster C said that the walls and doors here were all explosion-proof," Treecko told her. "Although we can blow up a bit of the walls, they're still too thick for us to blast a hole through."

Froslass could say nothing else. She only withdrew into silence as thirteen pairs of eyes all stared at her.

_What happened?_ she thought. _My bomb was supposed to be able to knock down walls. Now it can't even blow a door off its hinge. That wasn't the sound of our ticket out of here. That was the sound of simple destruction._

"N-now what?" Cleffy moaned. "We're never going to g-get out of here..."

"Of course we are," a voice suddenly said coolly.

Everyone turned to Snivy, the slender grass snake who was leaning against the wall aloofly. "I happen to have been thinking up another way to get out of here... In case the bomb didn't work."

"Which is?" Breloom asked. He was interested, unlike Froslass who looked slightly offended.

Snivy walked away from the wall and began to pace to and fro. "You heard Guildmaster C," she said. "The walls here are very thick."

"Not even bombs can make a hole in 'em," Riolu mumbled sarcastically.

"That's right. But somehow, we can breathe. The answer? Air vents. There must be air vents in this place..."

"Of course," Treecko was among the first ones to catch on. "If there hadn't been any air vents here, we would have run out of oxygen sooner or later."

"That's right," Snivy said again, glaring at the wood gecko for having interrupted her. "My idea?"

"...GET OUT THROUGH THE AIR VENT!" Machop exclaimed. "That's a brilliant idea, Snivy! You're a genius for having thought of it."

"Actually, I've been thinking the exact same thing," Treecko mumbled, crossing his arms. Breloom looked at his friend with amusement. Because of the two Grass-types' similar cold-hearted but quick-witted traits, Snivy and Treecko were a constant pain in each other's necks.

"All right then," Staraptor said loudly. "That means we just have to find an air vent to get out through. Right?"

"That's right," Snivy agreed. She smiled. "We'll be out of here in no time."

* * *

...

The nearest air vent turned out to be exactly where they were, the mess hall. However, besides that small success, they also came upon a slight problem.

"WHAT GIVES?" Staraptor burst out. "That air vent is insanely _small_!"

Treecko climbed the wall with the help of his sticky wood gecko feet. After coming back down, he reported, "The metal grate can be opened with a screwdriver, which we might find in the storage room. However, Staraptor is right - it _is_ small. Even I can't fit in it."

Everyone automatically looked at one another... And finally their gazes all landed on Roselio. _Petit_ Roselio.

He didn't catch on right off the bat, so he said blankly, "Wait. What?"

If anything, the others' smiles only went wider.

...

A few minutes later, the metal grate had been screwn off by Treecko, a ladder was standing right under it, and Roselio was holding a flashlight they'd found in the storage room in his red rose.

"Do I really have to go in?" he griped, at which Lombre rolled her eyes and said, "¡Ay! Of course you do."

"Unless you'd like me to go instead," Magnemite said enthusiastically. "I'm also small enough!"

"Yeah, but you don't have any arms," Riolu snapped. That seemed to burst Magnemite's bubble and he didn't say anything else.

Meanwhile, Cleffy looked nervous. "Isn't it going to be d-dark inside?"

"It is," Staraptor drawled, "otherwise he wouldn't be holding _a flashlight_ right now."

"Oh, how s-scary," Cleffy moaned as she watched the Thorn Pokémon climb up into the air vent and disappear into its darkness. To Cleffy's worry and frustration, something Roselio was really good at was returning from something risky _not_ in one piece. He didn't seem to get bothered by it since he was so happy-go-lucky, but it wasn't OK to Cleffy. She didn't know why, but she really felt protective of him.

...

While Roselio was in the air vent, Treecko stood on the ladder by the opening. He was silent, but Cleffy wasn't. She kept calling out, "See a way out?" And Roselio would call back, "Nope, not yet!"

Breloom rolled his eyes. "I think you should stop shouting, Cleffy," he said. "The only thing your shouts is gonna do is break his focus."

"Well, it's just that... It's so dark in there," Cleffy protested quietly.

Breloom was about to retort when there was a small, muffled yelp coming from inside the air vent. Treecko leaned closer to the opening and called, "Roselio! What happened? Is everything OK?"

Everyone was quickly snapped back to reality. "Wh-what happened?" Cleffy cried out fearfully.

"I'm OK!" a voice shouted from inside the air vent.

"What happened?" Treecko repeated.

"Oh, it was nothing. There was suddenly this metal fan at the end of the vent..."

"What!" Cleffy's face went pale.

"Yeah, I didn't see it until the last minute, and it kind of... You know..."

"Are you hurt?" Treecko asked.

"It doesn't hurt too much."

Snivy went on with her idea of escape. "Can it be dismantled or anything?"

"Hold on. Umm... Nope, doesn't look like it. At least not when the fan's on and moving-"

"No screws? Really?" Snivy looked skeptical.

There was no answer.

"Roselio?" Staraptor sounded concerned. "Are you there? Hey, say something!"

"Sorry, sorry. I was a bit... Distracted. Wow. This is quite a _lot_ of blood..."

Treecko decided that it was enough. "I think you'd better come out here now. You're hurt."

"No, it's actually nothing..."

"You'd better come out here," Staraptor repeated firmly. "Now."

"Oh, all right..."

A little while later the Roselia was squeezing out of the air vent and then descended the ladder. That was only when Cleffy could see what the problem was.

The fan blade had cut at his left wrist. It seemed to be pretty deep and blood was running onto his blue rose petals. Cleffy didn't know how deep - she just knew it was.

"Oohh!" she gasped. She gets queasy around blood. "C-c-climbing into air vents is d-d-dangerous! I k-knew it..."

"That should be bandaged immediately," Froslass said with a small wince, but Cleffy spoke up softly without thinking, "I... I'll do it."

Breloom started to say, "Cleffy, I thought you didn't like seeing-" but Lombre gave him a light yet meaningful punch on the shoulder. "Just let her do what she wants," she said. Breloom finally caught on and said, "OK, why don't you two go ahead and do it now?"

Cleffy's face went red with shyness, but she led Roselio out of the mess hall.

...Snivy was cold-hearted, so she only had her eyes and ears on her plan. "So, there's a fan at the end of the vent," she said, mulling it over. "Maybe we could do something to the fan if it wasn't moving."

"Which means, we have to jam it," Oshawott said, pleased at himself for having thought of the next step to the plan.

"But it's too dangerous to get near it," Tyrogue said with a frown.

"Maybe I could-" Magnemite started, but Riolu quickly interrupted, "Forget it, Magnemite. You have no arms."

It was Machop who came up with a real idea. "Hey! I remember the first day we came here - Magnemite and I talked about robots with Froslass. Tyrogue said that it was too dangerous for anyone to go in there, but it's not dangerous at all for... a _robot!_ My idea is to send a robot in there instead of a real Pokémon!"

"Are you kidding?!" Riolu burst out. "That's gonna take a super-long time!"

"Not for Froslass," Staraptor argued, and Magnemite added in a good-natured manner and returned enthusiasm, "Of course! Froslass is the pro when it comes to these things. Right?"

All eyes turned to the Ice-Ghost-type again, but this time Froslass felt herself shrink under their gazes. After the thing with her bomb, she didn't feel capable anymore. However, she did say, "Um... Yeah."

_I hope._

...That was how Froslass found herself holed up in the lab for the second time since she came to Dream Guild. This time, she was alone.

"A robot, is it?" she said, this time with a defeated sigh, cracking her pale knuckles. "All right, I'll see what I can do."

⌣»̶✽«

* * *

Meanwhile, Cleffy was on the verge of panicking. It was smart of her to offer bandaging up Roselio's hand _without knowing where their medical stuff were._

_Smart, Cleffy. Smart._

_"_Um... Cleffy? Are we nearly there yet?" Roselio asked uncertainly as he followed Cleffy. "It's starting to drip. If we don't bandage this up soon, I'm gonna have a lot of mopping-up to do."

"Sorry, I'm sorry," Cleffy wheezed. "I forgot where we put our Treasure Ba- BRELOOM!"

That was when she saw Breloom with Magnemite in the mess hall. And the former was slinging their Treasure Bag.

"Breloom! The bandage!" Cleffy panted as she burst in. "The bandage is in the Treasure Bag! And the Treasure Bag is still with you!"

Breloom rolled his eyes and handed the bag to Cleffy, who cried, "Finally," and began to take out bandages and Oran Berries. Then she began to use the Oran Berries to heal Roselio's cut and finally wrapped it up with a bandage. Although Cleffy was timid and shy, she was second to none when it comes to medicines and healing (although she does get queasy around blood, which probably makes it a bit useless.)

"Yay! Thank you, Clef!" Roselio exclaimed, waving his treated arm about. "My arm is as good as new! You're pretty good at this stuff."

Cleffy's face reddened considerably, but the oblivious Grass-type didn't notice. "Y-you're welcome," she whispered. "And th-th-thanks."

...

After returning the medical stuff to Breloom's Treasure Bag, Cleffy and Roselio left to mop up the blood stains in the corridor. Cleffy had, of course, volunteered to help him again.

Breloom rolled his eyes once they were gone.

"That Cleffy," he said with a chuckle. "She's head over heels in love with Roselio. It's obvious like hell, but he's so oblivious he has never seemed to notice." He turned to Magnemite with a smirk. "What about you, Magnemite?"

"Huh?" Magnemite didn't catch his question.

"I meant, do you have anyone in mind? Anyone you like? Anyone you can't just keep out of your head?"

"Anyone I can't keep out of my head, huh..." Magnemite's voice trailed off as his eye gained a faraway look in it. His memory was slipping back to remember something that happened a few days ago.

"Actually, there is."


	5. PRE-GAME Chapter 4: Paranoia

**~ Nightmare Guild ~**

**Chapter Four: Paranoia**

_The rescue team that came didn't help me at all. They helped all the others. They didn't help me. I overheard one of them say that it was too late. Too late for me. I was in too bad a scrape that it would be unsafe to attempt anything. No one wants to fight for me. I'm that insignificant._

_..._

* * *

Breloom was at the mess hall early the next day, and he was back with Magnemite. The little Pokémon seemed to be excited to see the robot Froslass had made.

"Machop's idea is a really good one," he chattered away to Breloom. "I just know we're going to get out of here after all! Bzzt!"

Breloom smiled at him. "I'm sure we will," he said. He had been pretty fond of the Magnet Pokémon since Team Overgrow met Team DynamicPunch on one of their many rescue missions.

The other Pokémon were all there, except for Froslass herself. Perhaps she was still at the lab, giving her robot the finishing touches before showing it to the others.

Finally, a nervous Tepig spotted the Ice-type at the doorway. "There she is!" Tepig exclaimed.

Everyone turned to her, searching her face for clues on how the robot was going and not finding any since she was really good at hiding emotions.

She finally paused at their metal table. Then she spoke.

"I'm afraid I have bad news."

"What?!" everyone gasped.

"I worked on my robot until late at night yesterday. I finished it yesterday, too." She paused. "But this morning... This morning when I went into the lab to get it and show you, I saw that it had been tampered with."

"WHADDYA MEAN, TAMPERED WITH?!" Staraptor exploded. "Don't be silly. Are you telling us we're not going to get out after all?"

Froslass shot him a look which succeeded in silencing him. "I'm afraid so."

"What exactly do you mean by 'tampered with'?" Treecko asked.

"Well," Froslass replied, "It was pretty obvious so I knew right off the bat. Both the robot's arms are missing."

"Whaaat!" Cleffy moaned. "Y-you mean someone ripped its arms straight off?!"

"Yes," Froslass said. "Both its arms were missing."

"Why would anyone want to do that?!" The look on Lombre's face was of utter disbelief.

There was silence for a little while... A silence that Riolu broke.

"Isn't it obvious?" Riolu drawled. "Maybe this Guildmaster C guy actually thought that this plan might work. So he sneaked in during the night and cut the robot's arms off so it wouldn't function properly."

Several murmurs rippled around in the mess hall.

"I see your point," Snivy said, "But if so, why didn't he just wreck the whole robot? Why take away its arms?"

Breloom was a practical Pokémon. He didn't really care why the robot's arms were missing. "Can you fix it, Froslass?" he asked. "Can you make new arms for it or something?"

"Bzzzt, yeah! You could make new arms for it!" Magnemite agreed. "It'll be as good as new!"

Froslass shook her head in despair. "I'm afraid I can't," she sighed. "I've run out of material needed to make them... I'm sorry."

The room was thrown back into a gloomy silence. It was unclear what each was thinking. The only thing certain was that none of them looked very optimistic.

Again, Riolu was the one who broke it.

"Aww man, what exactly have I gotten myself into?" he moaned to no one in particular. "This is stupid, this isn't supposed to happen. We're trapped in a lunatic asylum guild, whose guildmaster wants us to kill one another and rips arms off robots. I can't believe I let myself into this mess. This is so wrong, everything is wrong! I'm supposed to become a rescue team leader! We're never gonna see daylight again." He slumped forward in his chair.

"Bzzzt, Riolu, calm down," Magnemite tried to soothe him in the most sympathetic robotic voice he could muster. "We're going to get out of here, you just have to be patient and-"

Riolu completely lost it.

"MAGNEMITE SHUT UP!" he shouted, up to the point of hysteria. "SHUT UP SHUT UP JUST SHUT UP! Can't you see? Are you too blind to see the truth?! We're all gonna die here. Either the cheese slips off the cracker, or we die of boredom, or we die with a knife through the throat."

"Riolu!" Tyrogue snapped. "Calm down!"

"I WON'T CALM DOWN!" Riolu screeched.

"R-riolu..." Cleffy stammered uncertainly, as if she couldn't decide whether or not to try and soothe him.

"NO! I DON'T WANT TO LISTEN TO ANY OF YOUR SUGARCOATED RANTINGS," Riolu snapped. "WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE HERE. THIS IS STUPID. YOU'RE ALL STUPID. I'M SORRY YOU STUPID BUNCH ARE THE ONES I HAVE TO SHARE MY LAST DAYS WITH."

"What did you just say?!" Breloom clenched his fists.

"YOU'RE GONNA BE SORRY YOU EVER SAID THAT," Staraptor shouted.

Lombre cursed in her native language (Spanish) while Froslass shot Riolu a steely glare.

"That's enough," the Ice-type said calmly. "I think we've heard enough, Riolu."

"Oh YEAH?!" Riolu suddenly turned in his chair so he was facing Froslass. "YOU, Little Miss Smartypants, are the one whose bomb FAILED to bring down the wall! And YOU, Little Miss Nerdy, are also the one whose robot proved itself very helpful by doing _nothing at all!_"

This time, Roselio couldn't help but join in. "Hey!" he exclaimed indignantly. "Those things aren't Froslass' fault! They're-"

"AND YOU." Now Riolu was glaring at him. "You're about the most pathetic team leader I've ever met. You're the one who went into the air vent and came back out needing a bandage." He sneered. "Thank you for _nothing._"

"That's it." Staraptor stood up angrily. "No one talks bad about my teammates and gets away with it!"

Riolu rolled his eyes. "Oh, more threats... Like we haven't got enough of them already! I'm not afraid of you - you're just a big bird trying and failing to look menacing. Come here and I'll give you a good beating."

"He rhymed!" Machop singsonged - he was the only one who didn't seem to be in a bad mood - but Staraptor's face was now a brilliant shade of red.

"IS THAT SO?!" he growled. "Bring it on!"

Riolu stepped forward, his fist thrust out, and then...

"POKABUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"

Fire suddenly shot out of Tepig's nostrils. The plate of berries on the table instantly got singed. Everyone turned with wide eyes to stare at the supposedly timid and docile fire pig.

Tepig took a deep breath and looked around sternly at the others. "OK, that was one stupid argument and a waste of time," he finally said. "Instead of arguing and blaming one another, why don't we use the time to develop another plan instead? This silly argument is only making us angry, frustrated, and it clouds our common sense."

Riolu and Staraptor were about to retort but Snivy quickly cut them off.

"Tepig is right," she agreed. "Whatever we do, we must keep calm. To survive in this guild, we must keep our heads on."

Machop piped up with a giggle, "Keep our heads on?" And Magnemite joined in, "Of course we must keep our heads on, otherwise if decapitated-"

"WHAT THE HECK. CAN'T YOU SEE A FIGURE OF SPEECH WHEN YOU HEAR ONE?!" Riolu burst out, glaring at both of them. "You two are stupid."

"Sorry." Machop rolled his eyes. "We were just kidding."

"_As I was saying,_" Snivy cleared her throat, "We have to keep our wits about us and not freak out. We can't concentrate too much on staying alive, either, because that's when you'll get paranoid." She looked around with a serious expression on her face. "Paranoia is dangerous, it makes you lose your mind."

"Lose your mind...?" Machop was about to make another irrelevant comment when Riolu snapped, "SHUT UP. We're not supposed to take it literally!"

However, Snivy went on, "We all want to come out of this guild alive, don't we? If that's so, what we need isn't brains..." - she glanced sideways at Froslass and Treecko - "nor brawns..." - this time she turned to Staraptor, Oshawott, and Breloom - "because what we really need is _flexibility._"

Machop and Magnemite looked blank. Tepig quickly explained, "Flexibility, that means the ability to adapt to your environment."

"That's right," Snivy agreed. "Flexibility. Adaptability. Whoever can't adapt, dies." She looked straight at Riolu.

Riolu's face was red, and he was about to say something else when Treecko interrupted him. "All right, all right," he said. "That's it for today. I think we should call this a day and retire. Hopefully when we meet again, we'll have had some fresher thoughts on this."

"Good idea!" Oshawott yawned. "I'm beat."

And with that, the Pokémon went away one by one. Oshawott was going to bed, no doubt.

"Yup, we're bound to have clearer heads after we rest," Magnemite agreed.

Little did they know that things were just about to take a turn...

For the worst.

**»̶✽«̶**

**END OF PART ONE: PRE-GAME**


	6. GAME Chapter 5: Victimized

**~ Nightmare Guild ~**

**PART TWO: GAME**

**Stage 1**

**~14 Pokémon in total~**

**Chapter Five: Victimized**

Breloom yawned as he sat on a metal chair in the mess hall. It was half an hour before 8 o'clock, so it was understandable if the others weren't awake yet, since the morning alarm hadn't gone off.

It was unusual for him to be out earlier than needed be. He had never been an early bird - he always preferred to sleep in. However, he had been unable to sleep.

That was when he saw that someone else was going into the mess hall. He turned and saw that it was Magnemite.

"Oh! Hello, Breloom," Magnemite greeted as cheerfully as a steel machine could.

"Hi, Magnemite," Breloom replied. "You sure are up early."

"Yeah. I couldn't sleep," Magnemite sighed, then he floated in and sat next to Breloom. Sure enough, he had dark circles under his single eye.

The next one to arrive in the mess hall was Froslass, who made herself some tea the moment she came in. "I need a soothing break," she told Breloom and Magnemite over her steaming cup of chai tea. "Too much excitement these recent days."

Magnemite sighed. "You can say that again."

Then, it was Tepig who came in. He said, "I hope we come up with new ideas that work," as he sat down nervously.

Nearing 8 AM, most of the Pokémon had assembled there except for Staraptor, Riolu, Oshawott, and Treecko.

Oshawott barreled in just as the morning announcement came on at 8 AM.

"Nailed it!" he exclaimed, doing a little victory jig. "I got here with no time to spare!"

Snivy rolled her eyes. "I see that," she said, but she couldn't help but chuckle. _Oh, Oshawott._

Meanwhile, Guildmaster C's voice blared out of the speakers. "Good morning, Pokémon! Rise and shiiiine! Today's the... What?... Fourth?... day of the program! I have to give it to you, four days in a strange place gone through with peace and harmony! I have to congratulate you all! However, I hope things get more _exciting_ soon! That's all from me. Have a good day."

There was silence for a few moments, then Lombre spoke. "Well. That was that. Four days and we're still here. Nice."

Cleffy moaned. She had circles under her eyes and she looked restless. "I don't want it to get any _exciting._"

"Neither do we," Snivy said seriously. "...But I really think we should start the briefing now. Since Treecko isn't here yet, we need someone else to lead it. Froslass?"

"No, thank you." Froslass shook her head firmly. "I don't feel capable of doing that..."

"Wait," Breloom spoke up. "Where could Treecko have gone? He's not one to oversleep..."

"Breloom." Snivy stared at him sharply. "We all know Treecko doesn't oversleep, but we need to get started right now. He's probably just doing something else... That wood gecko."

"But Staraptor and Riolu..." Roselio started, but stopped when Snivy gave him a murderous look.

"That later," she said. "Morning briefing now. Now who will lead it? Tepig... Anyone?"

"Can I lead it?" Machop offered enthusiastically.

"All right," Snivy sighed.

"OK everyone!" Machop exclaimed. "Let's start today's morning briefing! Since our main objection is still to get out of here, does anyone have any new ideas-"

He was interrupted when the doors of the mess hall silently opened. All heads turned to see who it was.

"I guess I'm late," Treecko said coolly, folding his arms and going into the mess hall as if he owned the place.

Snivy snarled. "You certainly are, Kimori."

"Loosen up, Tsutarja," Treecko said, taking a seat next to Oshawott.

Snivy was about to say something else when Roselio quickly interrupted, "Where's Staraptor? Did you see him?"

Treecko turned to look at him and shook his head. "I don't know. I didn't see him at all. Maybe he's still in his room? Sleeping?"

"Probably," Roselio sighed, but Froslass wasn't about to dismiss that situation as quickly. Something the rules had said was giving her goosebumps.

"If that's the case..." Froslass began calmly, "We need to get him out of there right now." She looked at the clock, which was showing 8.45 AM.

She looked at the others in the mess hall with her haunting blue eyes. "Remember the rules? If he doesn't come out in precisely fifteen minutes, he will be _eliminated._"

Magnemite let out a small squeak of alarm. "And Riolu too...!"

"What are we waiting for?!" Lombre burst out, jumping to her feet. "Let's wake them up, then!"

⌣»̶✽«

* * *

Roselio was the first one to go into the right wing where Staraptor's room was, while Team DynamicPunch went into the left wing to wake Riolu up. Roselio quickly pounced on the door, banging on it like a maniac.

"Staraptor! You have to come out right now!" he yelled. "Staraptor!"

Oshawott fiddled with the door handle. He looked helplessly at a hopeful Roselio. "It's locked!"

"We need to break it open," Treecko said grimly.

"Let me," Tepig said determinedly. He went a few meters back from the door, and then he ran, aiming at the door with his Heat Crash. The door was ripped off its hinge, falling onto the floor smouldering.

Staraptor's room was empty. The covers had been disturbed, lying limply on the bed.

"Staraptor!" Roselio screeched, horrified. Froslass' mouth was in one hard line as she stated the obvious. "He's gone."

...

"Hey, guys! Sorry I sort of skipped the morning briefing. I accidentally broke the strap of my team's Treasure Bag, which was my turn to hold, and then I figured that Froslass wouldn't like it if I went to the mess hall with it broken, so I went into the storage room at the end of this corridor to find stuff to fix it and... Whoa."

Roselio whirled around ecstatically to find Staraptor standing behind them open-beaked.

"Staraptor!" he exclaimed. "We were so worried about you! We thought you were dead!"

"Dead? Of course not," Staraptor said distractedly. "But... What the _heck_ did you do to my _door?_"

...

⌣»̶✽«

* * *

...

And so, a relieved Roselio led the others back into the mess hall with Staraptor in tow, while Tepig sheepishly explained what had chanced upon his door.

However, before any of them could sit down, a howling banshee burst into the mess hall.

"Breloombreloombreloombreloombreloombreloombreloom breloombreloombreloom!" Magnemite wailed, spinning around like a top and letting loose weak bolts of electricity. "Yougottaseethisyouseewewentintoriolusroomandtheni screamedonceisawwhathadhappenedandthenohyougottase eit...!"

"Whoa, Magnemite!" Breloom frowned. "Slow down! What is it?"

The stressed out Steel-type took a gulp of air and then swallowed. He looked up at Breloom with a frightened eye. And finally he spoke.

"Riolu. He's dead."

⌣»̶✽«

* * *

...

...

"...Yup. As dead as the ancient Egyptian pharaohs and as dry as a cantaloupe."

Treecko Kimori stepped back grimly from Riolu's blood-soaked bed.

"See, his throat has been cut right open..." He pointed it out to the others. Well, the others except for Cleffy, that is. The second she had entered Riolu's room, she had fainted dead away on the carpet.

"Mm-hmm... Someone came in and slit his throat with a knife... And went out again leaving him to bleed to death. The murderer must have done it while he was asleep, since there is no sign of struggle nor did Riolu put up any fight. See... He's still neatly lying in bed with his eyes closed."

"Didn't he lock his door?" Oshawott asked with horror. "There was no sign of break-in."

"Riolu never locks his door," Machop sniffed. "He never does. The second he arrives in his bedroom, he jumps onto the bed and sleeps like a stump till the next day. We should know, he's our team leader. Was."

"I'm sorry," Tepig said quietly.

Treecko and Snivy said nothing but kept their heads down. Snivy looked across and accidentally caught the wood gecko's eye. Both quickly tossed their heads. Somehow, the two knew they were thinking the same thing.

The game has begun.

⌣»̶✽«

* * *

That same afternoon, Team Overgrow sat in the mess hall. The others were nowhere to be seen. Maybe Team PokéPark was helping Team Red Bow repair Staraptor's broken door. And as for Team DynamicPunch, the others knew enough to leave them alone.

"Wh-who do you think did it?" Cleffy wailed. "For Arceus' sake... I can't believe this is happening..."

"It could have been anyone," Breloom said. It was frustrating, but it was the truth.

"Not Roselio!" Cleffy protested hotly. "He wouldn't do anything like that, ever! He's the most kind-hearted Pokémon I've ever seen! Besides, he didn't have any time to do it. He was already in the mess hall by the time the morning announcement came on."

"¡Ay! I don't mean to burst your bubble, Cleffy," Lombre said, "But Breloom's right. It still could have been Roselio. Remember the rules? We're to stay in our rooms from 10 PM to 6 AM. Anyone could've woken up at six and done it. I'm sorry," she added more softly when Cleffy's face fell.

"What about the motive?" Breloom ventured. "Who'd have the reason to kill Riolu?"

"What about... _Staraptor?_" Lombre suggested. "He nearly got into a fight with Riolu yesterday, remember? And he did come to the mess hall late. He'd have more time to do it than the others."

"Yeah!" Cleffy's eyes widened. "I still think it's more logical that the one who did it was among those who came late. They'd have more time to do it, like Lombre said. What if... What if Staraptor didn't _only_ go into the storage room before we met him...?"

Breloom was silent for a moment, replaying Staraptor vs. Riolu in his head.

_I'm not afraid of you - you're just a big bird trying and failing to look menacing._

Icicles ran up and down Breloom's spine. He was left thinking, _Who else could have done it?_

_"Snivy," _he suddenly gasped.

_Whoever can't adapt, dies._

"That's why Snivy wouldn't let Roselio and I check on Staraptor, Riolu, and Treecko, saying that morning briefing goes first," Breloom gasped. "She could be afraid we might find Riolu looking like that before she could do anything about it..."

Lombre stared at him. He could feel his cheeks heat up when he met her gaze... Which was unusual.

"Breloom... You might just be right," she agreed. She turned to the wood gecko sitting next to the Mushroom Pokémon. "And you, Mr. Genius, what do you think? Why haven't you said anything? Got any ideas?"

"I think it's better that I don't say anything before we get some hard evidence," Treecko said coolly, leaning back in his chair.

_Treecko._

_"I guess I'm late"..._

Breloom frowned.

_You never said anything about why you were late... And you didn't oversleep._

_What were you up to this morning, Kimori?_

_Are you innocent? Or are you not?_

* * *

**13 Pokémon remaining**

* * *

**Author's Note: OK, this is where it'll get different from Dangan Ronpa. In the Dream Guild, you can kill anyone with any means like in Battle Royale or Hunger Games and not worry about Class Trials or being found guilty. It really _is_ an all-out killing spree.**

**I wonder who the killer is... and who'll be the next one to bite the dust.**


	7. GAME Chapter 6: Rampage

**~ Nightmare Guild ~**

**Chapter Six: ****Rampage**

_The rescue team that came didn't help me at all. They helped all the others. They didn't help me. I overheard one of them say that it was too late. Too late for me. I was in too bad a scrape that it would be unsafe to attempt anything. No one wants to fight for me. I'm that insignificant._

_So I sit down and wait for the end. But still I pray and hope against hope that Arceus will let me see another sunrise..._

_..._

_..._

* * *

_..._

The next day, no one was late for morning briefing. Everyone was too spooked out to attempt anything rebellious. Even the most steel-nerved of them looked grimly at the empty fourteenth chair around the mess hall table, recalling exactly how Riolu looked like when they found him, "as dead as the ancient Egyptian pharaohs and as dry as a cantaloupe".

In contrast to the silence in the mess hall, Guildmaster C's voice was blaring gaily out of the speakers.

"Goooood morning, Pokémon! Now THIS is what I've been waiting for, some excitement at last! Since someone out there's finally getting started, I'll announce the previous day's death toll in every morning announcement! And as for yesterday, the Pokémon who got eliminated was Riolu Rollingkick, with a cunning single slit of the throat! Well, that's all for now! Happy more killing!"

After the speaker had gone silent, no one said anything for a while. It was a moment before Treecko, the leader of the morning briefing once again, cleared his throat. "Umm, OK, so... Any new ideas on how to get out?"

This time, no one answered.

"No ideas?" Treecko asked again. "Froslass?"

Twelve pairs of eyes turned to look at the Ice-type, whose face went red. "No, I don't have any ideas," she said. "All my inventions and ideas failed in the past. I should have just kept my mouth shut and my hands idle."

"Don't say that," Staraptor said. "It's not your fault."

"I don't have any ideas anyway," Froslass added coldly. "I am telling the truth, there is no need to ask me over and over again. I think I've done enough."

The room was silent for a few painful, awkward seconds. Then Treecko went on as if nothing had happened, "All right. Anyone else?"

No one said anything. It was beginning to look doubtful that anyone was still actively participating in the discussion. The stricken members of Team DynamicPunch were present there yet absent, and the others didn't seem to be paying attention. Staraptor was staring at the clock, Roselio was staring at nothing, and Oshawott was falling asleep.

Treecko sighed, clearly annoyed. "Fine. That's all for today's briefing. The conclusion is: we still don't know how to get out of here... And I doubt we will."

And the wood gecko left the room.

⌣»̶✽«

* * *

...

That noon, Snivy Tsutarja went into the training gym. It was the only room at the guild which was decorated in a different style. The training gym was made to look like a forest with artificial trees and bushes, and it was complete with wooden targets standing here and there. To Snivy, it looked like some sort of ninjutsu training ground, which was pretty cool... That is, until she realized that the wooden targets were shaped to look like _them_: her friends and herself, the participants of the Dream Guild Program doomed to die. She even found a Snivy target made to look like her.

Snivy had gotten tired of Dream Guild's marble columns and floors. She found them too overwhelming, too much like a _real_ palace. Even Verdant Court back in PokéPark looked nothing like this, and Verdant Court was the home of a queen. That was why she found walking in the training gym rather relaxing - except for the disturbing targets, of course - because it reminded her of home.

"Like I'm ever going to go home," she snarled, shooting out one of her vines in a moment of cold anger, striking the Riolu target, which happened to be the nearest. "I'm stuck in this nightmare, whoever knows for how long..."

For the next few minutes, she found sheer pleasure in striking down each of her friends with her best attacks.

And for the first time since she arrived at the Dream Guild, she truly felt... Happy.

Leaf Blade! _Crack. She decapitated Roselio. His head fell onto the floor, creating messy splatters of blood. His eyes were surprised, but Snivy was sure he would go down with a smile._

Vine Whip! _Crack. She punched a hole right through Lombre's heart, driving her vine through until its point poked out between her shoulders. Snivy held it there for a second, then retracted it. Blood poured out like a fountain, and she fell clutching at her broken heart._

Again! _Crack. She gouged out Tepig's eyeballs and broke his ears. The Fire Pig could only run around the room screaming, blindly, as the sockets where his eyeballs used to be had been turned into two red pools._

Leaf Storm! _Crack. Magnemite became covered with a veil of leaves that blew him right into the sky, finally slamming him against the wall. He landed on the floor with a painful CLANG, finding it much more comfortable for he didn't get up again..._

_Crack. Crack. Crack. Crack. CRASH._

_Staraptor got a hole in his wing. No way was he going to fly again._

_Snivy felled Treecko by ripping out his legs right from under him. He wasn't going to climb any more walls in this condition._

_Vines wrapped around Machop and squeezed, his head finally exploding into a thousand particles and sharp splinters._

Finally, she was left standing amidst wooden splinters and tiny particles. Those were what was left of the wooden targets. All of them had been taken out by her, driven by her need to unleash her anger.

That is, all but one.

All but herself.

_Snivy, know what? You're about to get destroyed also._

She got ready to use Leaf Storm, her strongest attack, again...

...when a curious green blob whizzed past her and hit the Snivy target. It was a clean headshot - Snivy's head was blown straight off. The headless torso stood there limply for a second before falling back dead.

Snivy gasped, gritted her teeth, and whirled around.

Up there, on an artificial tree branch high above, stood Treecko. He was leaning against the tree trunk and didn't even bother to look at her.

"That was a good idea, Tsutarja," he said. "Pulling off my legs right from under me, that was a neat trick. But blasting through your brain with an Energy Ball was also neat, was it not?"

"What the heck are you doing here?!" Snivy gritted her teeth.

"I only wanted to ask you a few questions regarding your activities the day Riolu died."

"What, are you suspecting me of murder, Kimori?" Snivy snarled. "Fuck you."

"Swearing, swearing. I am not suspecting you, Tsutarja, at least not yet. I was merely going to ask you a few questions because you are known by quite a lot as an early bird. Therefore you might have seen what the others who woke up early were doing the day Riolu got murdered."

"Oh, you mean an _iterrogation?_"

"Yes."

Snivy sneered. "Did you really think I would answer your questions?"

"Yes," Treecko said, "but this isn't the place to talk. Tea in the mess hall?"

Snivy paused. Then she said, "Oh, all right. Tea sounds good. Besides, ripping your legs off and all that was hard work anyway."

⌣»̶✽«

* * *

In the mess hall, after Snivy and Treecko had made themselves some tea, they sat at the long metal table. They were the only ones in the lonely room.

"All right, Tsutarja," Treecko said calmly. "Tell me whom you saw before it was time for morning briefing."

"Whom I _didn't_ see were you, Oshawott, and Staraptor," she said.

"Yes. Because we were _late. _No one saw us before we went to the mess hall, of course."

"Yes."

"Well, who woke up early, then? That was my question."

"I don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know? Didn't you wake up early?"

Snivy leant back in her chair. "Yes, I am an early bird. Yes, I often wake up earlier than the others. But I _didn't_ wake up early in the morning of Riolu's death. I woke up only a little while before the morning briefing."

Treecko was exasperated. "Well, you said nothing about that in the training gym. Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Would you have listened, Kimori? I doubt it."

"Hmm. Actually, you have a point there." Treecko didn't say anything else, and for a while it was only the two of them sitting quietly sipping their tea.

Presently Snivy stood up, taking her empty cup. "I'm going to go get myself some chai tea," she told Treecko. "The cup Froslass made herself looked delicious. Especially in the mornings."

"OK." Treecko said. Suddenly he sat straighter and said, "Wait. What did you say again?"

"Chai tea, like Froslass', in the mornings." Snivy looked at him strangely. "Problem, Kimori?"

"No, Tsutarja. Carry on. ...Actually, there's something else I need to do right now. Mind if I leave you here?"

"I don't mind," Snivy replied, staring with astonishment as the wood gecko hastily stood up and left the room.

No one, and by that I do mean no one, knows what's going on inside his head. Even Breloom doesn't seem to know either.

⌣»̶✽«

* * *

"Ah! Froslass Yukimenoko. Just the Pokémon I have been looking for."

Froslass turned and saw Treecko coming down the left wing towards her.

"What?" Froslass asked grumpily. "Are you still going to ask me for escape ideas?"

"No," he said. "You don't have any more ideas, that much has been understood. However, I am going to ask you about something else."

"What is it about?" Froslass asked cautiously.

"Tea."

"What? Tee? As in T-shirt?"

"No. Tea, as in earl grey."

"Oh. And what is your question?"

"How many days did you have chai tea in the morning, Froslass?"

"Huh? Only once." Froslass frowned. "I only had chai tea in the morning the day Riolu died. Whatever is the matter?"

"Nothing is the matter," Treecko said calmly. "Thank you for the answer, Froslass." And he left.

Froslass now only stood staring after him.

I really do mean _no one_ knows what's going on inside the vast head of Treecko Kimori.

⌣»̶✽«

* * *

That night Breloom met Treecko in the mess hall, having a dinner of Plain Seed sandwiches. It was 8 PM, and Nighttime was two hours away.

"Hey, Treec!" Breloom called. "Where have you been today? We didn't see you at all!"

"I've been places."

"Of course you have. What've you been doing?"

"Ah, let's just say I've kept myself busy."

"Did you find anything important?" Breloom asked, not seeming to be put out by his friend's secretive answers. "Any clues? Any new escape plans?"

"No..." Treecko began slowly, "But I did find something else. This may or may not be of importance, but I caught Tsutarja lying."

"Snivy lying? About what?"

"She claimed that she woke up only a little while before the morning briefing the day Riolu died, but she was lying. I knew because she mentioned Froslass' chai tea."

"Huh? What's Froslass' chai tea got to do with anything?"

"The day we found Riolu dead, Froslass woke up early, went into the mess hall, and made herself a cup of chai tea."

"Yes. I saw her in the mess hall," Breloom recalled.

"And I saw her from outside the mess hall," Treecko went on. "Anyone who also woke up early would have seen her. Anyone who woke up late, however, wouldn't have. The two things Tsutarja said contradicted each other. If she had woken up late, she couldn't have seen Froslass make herself some chai tea. So she must have woken up at least as early as Froslass."

"Ohh..." Breloom's eyes widened. "But why would she lie?"

"She's hiding something," Treecko said.

Suddenly Breloom frowned. "Wait a second. You went to the mess hall late that day... But you also saw Froslass make her chai tea. That means I was right - you didn't oversleep. You woke up early enough but instead chose to come late to morning briefing. What were you doing?"

"Doing something." Treecko shrugged. "Well, I have finished having dinner. Mind if I go and retire? I am sleepy."

Without another word, he stood up and left.

Like Froslass, Breloom found himself staring in Treecko's wake. His mouth was open, but the gears in his brain were whirring.

_Snivy was lying._

_Treecko was being secretive._

_What the hell is going on here?_

* * *

**13 Pokémon remaining**


	8. GAME Chapter 7: Waiting for the End

**~ Nightmare Guild ~**

**Chapter Seven: Waiting for the End**

_I don't know how I know, but I know I am going to die._

_Something tells me that I am not going to see the rising sun tomorrow. I will have been jolly well dead by then._

_It was not a matter of my lack of optimism, but it was my plenty of common sense. Someone out there has started murdering people. That someone must be whom Breloom and Lombre could have easily defeated in battle, whom Treecko would have easily intimidated with one of his no-nonsense glares._

_But me?_

_I am sitting ducks._

_I'm like a juicy little rabbit waiting for an eagle to swoop in and take me away, that's how much I can defend myself, how much I can protect myself from harm._

_I am waiting for the end._

_..._

_I only dared to come out of my room to participate in the morning briefing, because I have a rigid tendency to follow every rule and follow them exactly. I would never dare come late, simply because the rules say not to._

_I sat in the corner next to my best friend Lombre. I don't know how I'm going to tell her that I'm going to die, so I didn't._

_Nor did I tell Breloom, who was sitting next to Lombre as usual. I know he wouldn't just leave me to be killed like this, and I know he will try to keep me safe. That is what a team leader does - although he's the rowdiest Pokémon I have ever seen, he cares for everyone he holds dear. However, I can't. I just feel like I'm alone in this mess._

_As usual, Treecko led the morning briefing. I tilted my head, staring at him. I know I will miss that wood gecko, although I am not sure whether he will miss me._

_But as a Grass-type Pokémon came and took a seat next to Staraptor, my heart shattered._

_It was this Pokémon whom I was going to miss the most._

_We didn't have many to discuss in the briefing. The conclusion was still the same: no one knows how to get out; the only thing we do know is that we were all on the verge of freaking out._

_Everyone was dismissed: Treecko escaping out of the room, Breloom and Lombre chatting to each other as the former's cheeks, rather interestingly, got a little bit redder. Team PokéPark and Team DynamicPunch also went out, and so did Staraptor and Froslass._

_However, not him._

_He went over and said, "Hey Clef!" in that voice I love so much.__"What are you going to do today?"_

_"Today?" My cheeks reddened. "Umm... Nothing. I think I'm just going to stay in my room. You?"_

_"Oh." He looked a bit crestfallen. My heart broke - I wanted to be with him also, but I couldn't let him see me get killed. He went on, "I don't know, but I think I'm going to accompany Froslass and Staraptor in the lab. Froslass' doing another experiment!"_

_"Oh, that sounds nice," I said to him, rather distractedly. My eyes darted around wildly, only seeing Breloom and Lombre in the mess hall. Everyone else had gone untracked, I didn't know where exactly they were._

_I was in hot waters._

_I wasn't anymore a sitting duck, I was a shot duck._

_I knew I had to escape into my room quick and lose myself in its welcoming darkness; I must hide or I will die._

_"Sorry, I have to go now," I said quickly. "Um... I need to do something..."_

_His face fell, and my heart broke even more._

_"I'm sorry," I squeaked again._

_"That's OK. I guess I'll see you at lunch, Clef?"_

_"Um... I don't know... I don't think I'm going to have lunch today."_

_"Oh? You're not hungry? ...All right then, I guess."_

_We walked to the door, he was going to go to the lab to find Froslass and Staraptor._

_"Well then... Bye, Clef!" He waved then walked off._

_"Bye, Roselio," I whispered, knowing that it was for real._

_Good Arceus, my goodbye was for real. I am going to die... This is my last chance. I have to do it._

_However, before I could say anything, he had turned around a few steps away from me. "Cleffy..."_

_"Y-yeah?"_

_"I..." he stammered, looking down at his feet._

_I waited, but nothing else came out._

_"Nothing," he blurted out. "Sorry." He turned and walked away again._

_Rats._

_This is your last chance, Cleffy. Just do it._

_"Roselio-"_

_He turned. "Yeah?"_

_"Umm..."_

_Just do it, I told myself. Tell him. Tell him now. You'll never get another chance. _

_But I couldn't. I'm sorry, I couldn't. I just couldn't say it._

_"Nothing," I said, feeling pathetic._

_"...Oh, OK. Well then." And he left._

_This time, he didn't turn back._

* * *

Staraptor looked up and saw Roselio enter the lab.

"There you are," he said. "Where have you been? You missed the first few steps of Froslass' experiment."

"Sorry," the Thorn Pokémon said. "I met and had a chat with Cleffy outside. What are you doing, anyway, Froslass?"

Froslass didn't look away from her experiment. "It's another bomb," she said. "I think I know why the door didn't break when we bombed it... So I'm now making another one that should be able to bring it down..."

"You didn't tell Treecko, did you," Staraptor said dryly.

"No," Froslass said. "Let him know after I finish this bomb."

"What are those?" Roselio saw some sphere-shaped objects on the table as he sat down on a stool beside Staraptor.

"Those? They're also bombs," Froslass said. "I'm making a lot of them at once, so if one of them fails, we'll still have a lot more to go."

"Nice idea," Staraptor said again in the same flat tone. "If one bomb is good, many is better."

They were interrupted by the swishing of the opening door, and two Pokémon went in.

"Bzzzzzt! Froslass, is that another bomb?"

The two Pokémon happened to be Magnemite and Machop. Both seemed to have regained a bit, if not all, of their enthusiasm.

"Yes," Froslass replied with a small sigh as the two younger Pokémon rushed over to the table to watch her work on it. "You can watch but DON'T touch anything, OK? I don't want this to fail like my other inventions."

"OK." Both stood straighter and saluted. Excitedly, they stood next to the table, very absorbed in the making of the bomb that their noses were so close to touching it.

Froslass sighed as Roselio and Staraptor exchanged amused glances. Then she went back to work.

⌣»̶✽«

* * *

Like she said she would, Cleffy didn't appear at lunch.

"She's probably on a diet," Lombre said, rolling her eyes. "She's forever saying that she'd start on her diet... Tomorrow."

After lunch, Magnemite left Tyrogue and Machop in the mess hall to go back to his room. Tepig and Snivy also went out of the mess hall. The others stayed, some chatting with one another, while some others (Froslass) decided to make some chai tea. In short, it was an uneventful day.

But Cleffy still didn't appear at dinnertime.

"OK, this is getting weird," Lombre said as everyone assembled in the mess hall for dinner. "The heck is she doing? Being on a diet doesn't mean you don't eat anything for an entire day. If she isn't gonna come out and is starving herself for some stupid reason, then I'll just have to deliver the food to her."

"I don't think she'll like that." Roselio frowned. "She acted as if she really wanted some privacy this morning."

"_This morning,_" Lombre drawled. "Not this _night._"

So that was what she did. After dinner, Lombre brought some food for Cleffy on a tray despite Roselio's suggestion that she shouldn't.

Lombre knocked on Cleffy's door, which was in the right wing of the guild. "Hey Clefpud, I don't know what you're doing in there but I've come to bring you some food. I don't know why you're starving yourself, but even Pokémon on diets have to eat sometime."

However, there was no answer.

"Clefpud?"

Nothing.

Lombre frowned, starting to get weirded out. "Clefpud Clefairy? What's going on in there? Is everything OK?" When there was still no answer, she put down the tray so she could bang on Cleffy's door freely. "Cleffy! Answer me! What's going on?!"

Still no answer!

Taking a deep breath, Lombre pushed on Cleffy's door...

...

...

... ...

* * *

"Guys."

Back in the mess hall, Snivy and Oshawott looked up from their rather private conversation to see Lombre standing there with a weird look on her face.

"What's up? Did Cleffy eat, or is she in too strict a diet?" Oshawott joked, seeming not to notice Lombre's strange expression.

"Um... I didn't even see Cleffy."

"Huh? How can that be?" Roselio, who had been listening in, spoke up. "She said she was going to spend most of today in her room."

"Well... That's the problem. Something weird's obviously been going on and... Oh heck, why don't you just come with me..."

She tugged on Snivy's arm and towed her out of the mess hall, and soon everyone else had no choice but to tag along. Everyone was asking questions in his or her minds.

_What could be the problem?_

But as the Pokémon burst into Cleffy's room, they immediately saw what "the problem" was. Something had gone terribly wrong. The room was in a wreck as if a fight had taken place there. Furniture were overturned, and Cleffy's things were strewn about the floor. They grew even grimmer when they saw scratch marks on the walls as if they had been made by a sharp weapon.

However, like Lombre had said, Cleffy herself wasn't there.

Treecko, who was in the lead, grimly went over to the door leading to the bathroom. Here, little specks of blood were visible on the carpet. The sharp weapon had found its mark.

Without any hesitation, Treecko yanked the door open.

All the Pokémon could only stand and stare at the sight of Cleffy Clefairy.

She was sitting on the tile floor and leaning against one of the walls of the bathroom. The floor and the wall were covered with dried blood. The wall looked as if someone had shot a red paintball at it. Cleffy's eyes were wide open and staring at the ceiling. Her mouth was hanging open, dry blood tracks spilling out of it. But the most horrifying was the butcher knife sticking out of her heart.

There was a moment of horrified/astonished/surprised silence as everyone tried to process what had chanced upon shy and innocent Cleffy Clefairy.

Breloom could hardly believe it. _Someone has been here and killed my teammate._ He clenched his fists. _Someone DARED kill my teammate._

Breloom could clench his fists, but poor Roselio couldn't. He could only wrap his vines around his roses as tightly as he could. He was trembling. The vines coiled tighter around his roses, but he didn't seem to care that he was crushing them. Red and blue petals floated to the ground.

Without a word, he suddenly whirled and started to storm out of the room.

Staraptor blinked. "Wait... Roselio, where are you going?" He made a move as if to follow him, but Froslass reached out a hand to restrain him while giving him a meaningful look.

Roselio paused at the doorway but didn't turn around. He waved a crushed red rose in Staraptor's direction.

"Just... Just leave me alone."

"But-" Staraptor started again despite the looks Froslass was giving him.

The Thorn Pokémon suddenly turned, scowling. "What?! But what? Don't you understand what "leave me alone" means?!"

At first, Staraptor looked pissed off, as if he was about to say something sharp. However, Froslass laid a hand on his wing, gently shaking her head.

Staraptor gave in and dropped his angry expression. Likewise, the rose Pokémon had run out of fight. Now his expression was that of empty sadness.

"Just... Don't bother following me. Leave me alone. Please."

Then he went out, slamming the door behind him.

...

Machop's next comment was an irrelevant one.

"Wow. Even in that condition, he still said "Please"."

⌣»̶✽«

* * *

...

It was the last few hours before Nighttime when Roselio finally steeled himself to go back into Cleffy's room.

The others were elsewhere in the Guild - he had seen the three remaining members of Team Overgrow sitting in the mess hall. He didn't know where Team DynamicPunch nor his own teammates were. For the time being, he didn't care.

He raised an arm and knocked on Cleffy's door. The next moment, he suddenly felt foolish when he realized that there was no longer the reason to knock. Cleffy wasn't going to answer.

He went straight into the bathroom and saw Cleffy in the exact same condition as when they first saw her. Roselio wrapped his vines around his roses again. No one bothered to lay her to rest properly.

_Well then. I'm the one who's going to have to do it._

But for the time being, he paused.

He sat down opposite Cleffy, as if they were just going to have a normal conversation.

"Well, I guess this is it, Clef," he said, his voice echoing on the walls of the empty room. "No more wrist-bandaging and blood-mopping-up, huh? No more ferris wheel rides, no more rescue jobs, no more anything."

He stood up and paced the room. He went on in a quieter voice, his eyes gaining a faraway look in them as if he was remembering something that happened a long time ago, "You know what? When I once said that I liked someone who was quiet but a good listener, I didn't mean Froslass nor Snivy. Yep, I meant you, Clef. I like you. But I confessed that way too late, didn't I? I'm such a coward."

He stopped in front of Cleffy, looking insanely thoughtful. "I'd very much like to know who did this..."

He bent down and pulled the knife out of her...

...And with sudden aggressiveness, he whirled around and threw the knife at the opposite wall. It sliced through the air and hit the wall, quivering, and stuck there. His strength was surprising for such a small Pokémon.

For a moment, in the darkness, the light in Roselio's eyes was almost murderous.

"Yes, I'd VERY MUCH like to know who did this. I'm going to make whoever it was pay. I will do it even if it kills me."

Realizing what he'd just said, he chuckled a bit. "But hey, isn't that a good thing? If it does kill me, at least we can be together again, right Clef? And if we ever meet again somewhere, I'll even let a Sharpedo rip my arm off just so you can bandage it again."

He smiled, for it sounded like a good idea.

Yes. It was a good idea.

He chuckled.

How smart of him to have thought of it!

Feeling mighty pleased with himself, he laughed.

It was maniacal laughter that echoed in the Nightmare Guild that night.

* * *

**12 Pokémon remaining**

* * *

**Author's Note: Oh. Ohh. This chapter was exceptionally fun to write. Another one bites the dust and a confession too late. But YEAH! This is perhaps the first chapter with warm fluffy romance in it, although it ended tragically. Hrnfff**

**Oh, and this chapter actually mentions an event that really happened in another of my fics. The ferris wheel ride and the interrupted "quiet but a good listener" confession all happened in an older story creatively titled Ferris Wheel.**

**...I wonder what will happen next.**


End file.
